Articles – Aspen Environmental Grouphttp://www.aspeneg.com
Wed, 15 May 2019 16:39:15 +0000en-UShourly1Aspen Works with Local Agencies to Provide Wildfire Support in Southern Californiahttp://www.aspeneg.com/articles/aspen-works-with-local-agencies-to-provide-wildfire-support-in-southern-california/
Wed, 08 May 2019 20:25:41 +0000http://www.aspeneg.com/?post_type=articles&p=3871Climatic changes are occurring locally and globally, and every indication points to the fact that frequent wildfires are becoming a fact of life in California. This will require a whole new mind-set for both private and public entities to develop plans to reduce the frequency of occurrence, mitigate the impacts, and enhance resiliency in dealing with the wildfires in California. Headquartered in southern California and directly affected by these fires in recent years, Aspen was compelled to use our resources and experience in such fields as biological resources, planning, and engineering to provide assistance and support to agencies and entities affected by wildfires. Below is some of our recent experience in this area:

Staff Affected by Woolsey Fire Help Local Community with Repairs

Months after the Woolsey Fire, communities are still on the long road to recovery. Devastating wildfires destroyed many homes and other structures, including public infrastructure. This infrastructure included things like guard rails, telephone poles, electrical distribution poles, and even flood control structures. These damaged facilities needed to be repaired before the winter rains, to provide the protection needed for public safety.

Aspen had the opportunity to help the local community prepare for post-fire storms by facilitating emergency repairs at several debris basins in the Santa Monica Mountains that were damaged by the Woolsey Fire. Aspen helped obtain emergency permits and monitored the repairs to ensure sensitive resources were protected. Aspen’s headquarters was evacuated during the fire and many staff members live in the Woolsey Fire area, so we were grateful for the opportunity to assist our local community with these repairs. Aspen is looking for more ways to contribute to local recovery efforts, especially where our knowledge and expertise are needed.

New Contract with Laguna Beach Fire Department

Aspen recently won a contract with the City of Laguna Beach to support the Laguna Beach Fire Department with California Environmental Quality Act documentation and permitting support for multiple fuel modification projects. Fuel modification is conducted at urban-wildland interfaces to reduce the amount of vegetative fuel that feeds wildfires and to provide “defensible space” to protect structures, infrastructure, and other development. Fuel modification projects can also include restoration projects that remove highly flammable nonnative vegetation and replace it with fire-resistant native habitat.

It is anticipated that Aspen will prepare two categorical exemptions, one for a 5-acre habitat restoration project, and one for installation of about 0.75 mile of cactus-dominated scrub as an ignition resistant barrier along Highway 133. Additionally, Aspen has been contracted to complete an Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration for the creation of fuel breaks behind homes in the Canyon Acres and Laguna Canyon areas. These projects will be completed by the City of Laguna Beach utilizing grant funding provided by Cal-Fire.

Aspen Begins Work on Fuels Management and Reforestation Projects in Angeles National Forest

In March, Aspen was selected by the National Forest Foundation and the Angeles National Forest (ANF) to complete the associated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documentation for the Powerhouse Vegetation and/or Fuels Project and the Sawmill-Liebre Reforestation Project, both located on the ANF. The Powerhouse Fire burned approximately 30,000 acres of the ANF in May and June 2013. The goal of the first project is to complete forest health and fuel management treatments and the second project includes reforestation in areas affected by the Powerhouse Fire. The Aspen Team is currently conducting field surveys, and those field results along with impact analysis will be incorporated into Specialist Reports. Pending the results of the field work and analysis, the ANF anticipates the preparation of NEPA Categorical Exclusions (CEs) for each project, and Aspen would prepare the Decision Memorandums to support the CEs.

If you need any assistance in the areas of fuel management, predictive modeling and asset management, vulnerability and resilience studies, and greenhouse gas emissions and air quality impact/risk assessment please contact Chris Huntley at (818) 338-6714.

Aspen Environmental Group has recently hired a new environmental permitting specialist, John Carrier, in the Sacramento office. Mr. Carrier is an environmental permitting specialist with over 30 years of professional experience in the power industry including: power plant siting and licensing, permitting, regulatory compliance, document preparation, technical writing, and project management. His expertise includes permitting energy projects under the Warren-Alquist Act, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). He has been providing project management services to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) for more than 20 years. He managed the preparation of Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs), Initial Studies/Mitigated Negative Declarations (IS/MNDs), power plant licensing and amendments to CEC licenses, and other CEQA/NEPA studies. For SMUD he managed preparation of a dozen CEQA documents, licensed the Cosumnes Power Plant through the California Energy Commission, and prepared several license amendments for plants operated by SMUD. He also supported SMUD’s relicensing effort of Upper American River Project and proposed pump storage project—Iowa Hill.

Since igniting last Thursday, the Woolsey and Hill Fires have left a devastating mark on Southern California, making them one of the largest wildfire events to hit the Los Angeles and Ventura County region. Thankfully, all Aspen staff residing in the vast area touched by these fires are safe. After a few days of mandatory evacuation from our office, we are also pleased to report that the Aspen Headquarters office in Agoura Hills was left unharmed, and we are no longer in a threatened area. We are grateful to the many firefighters who risked their lives making sure our community was safe, and our thoughts are with our neighbors who were not so fortunate. Thank you to our clients and peers who reached out and offered support.

On August 7 and 8, 2018, Aspen assisted the California State Lands Commission in running their first two public meetings on the Draft EIR for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Units 2 and 3 Decommissioning Project. The meetings were held in Oceanside and San Clemente, CA and were well-attended by the local community and the media. Click here to learn more about how Aspen is involved in this project.

]]>Williamson Rock/PCT Project Draft EIS Publishedhttp://www.aspeneg.com/articles/williamson-rock-pct-project-draft-eis-published/
Mon, 30 Jul 2018 20:15:48 +0000http://www.aspeneg.com/?post_type=articles&p=3717On July 25, 2018, the USDA Forest Service, Angeles National Forest published the Draft EIS for the Williamson Rock/Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (PCT) Project. Aspen Environmental Group has been assisting the Forest Service with preparation of the EIS for this well-known recreation area used predominately for rock climbing. It has been utilized by climbers since the 1960’s and is regarded as one of the unique rock climbing resources in southern California. The EIS addresses impacts to the federally-listed mountain yellow-legged frog (MYLF), peregrine falcon (state listed species) habitat, and other unique resources in the area, while providing limited, managed recreational activities of Williamson Rock, the PCT, and the surrounding vicinity.
]]>Aspen Conference Appearances – Spring 2018http://www.aspeneg.com/articles/upcoming-spring-2018-conferences/
Tue, 20 Mar 2018 20:52:39 +0000http://www.aspeneg.com/?post_type=articles&p=3653Look for Aspen Environmental Group at these upcoming conferences:

]]>Aspen Supports the California Energy Commission in Review of over $150,000,000 in Energy Research and Development Grantshttp://www.aspeneg.com/articles/aspen-supports-cec-epic/
Tue, 06 Feb 2018 22:53:19 +0000http://www.aspeneg.com/?post_type=articles&p=3647Aspen is the prime contractor to the Energy Commission in providing on-call technical assistance for the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program. Aspen has helped the Energy Commission evaluate the technical and CEQA adequacy of over 300 separate proposals submitted in response to 10 competitive research and development grant offers issued by the Energy Commission. The Energy Commission has awarded over $150 million in grants to the applicants. The grant topics included:

Aspen’s Program Manager for EPIC, Tom Murphy, will be attending the 2018 EPIC Symposium at the Sacramento Convention Center on February 7, 2018. The Symposium will highlight some of the EPIC Energy Research and Development projects on-going at the Energy Commission.

]]>Check out the latest issue of The Leaflethttp://www.aspeneg.com/articles/check-out-latest-issue-leaflet/
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 18:17:59 +0000http://www.aspeneg.com/?post_type=articles&p=3644Click here to check out the latest issue of our online newsletter, The Leaflet!
]]>Aspen Launches CEQA FAQ Pagehttp://www.aspeneg.com/articles/aspen-launches-ceqa-faq-page/
Thu, 28 Sep 2017 17:46:07 +0000http://www.aspeneg.com/?post_type=articles&p=3530Aspen Environmental Group has been a CEQA practitioner since the company’s inception 26 years ago and our staff is comprised of many exceptionally experienced CEQA project managers and technical analysts. Our active participation in environmental assessment and permitting activities for numerous complex and highly visible projects has resulted in a wealth of accumulated knowledge and practical insight related to CEQA compliance. Aspen has decided to share some of this insight and knowledge with others responsible for complying with CEQA through the creation of a new page on our website that presents short, easy-to-understand answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) about CEQA’s requirements. The answers to these questions are mostly derived from the CEQA statute in the Public Resources Code and the State CEQA Guidelines in the California Code of Regulations. Click here to view our CEQA FAQ page. We suggest you bookmark the page for future use.

Aspen’s CEQA FAQ page can be easily navigated with the use of a pull-down menu near the top of the page. Over time, the contents of the CEQA FAQ page will be expanded to address additional CEQA topics. We have also included a question form at the bottom of the page, which gives you the opportunity to ask us your individual questions about CEQA.

The goal of Aspen’s CEQA FAQ page is to provide a convenient way to quickly learn CEQA’s basic requirements for preparing and processing CEQA documents. Hopefully, other CEQA practitioners will find this to be a convenient way to get quick answers to basic CEQA questions without the need to hunt through the State CEQA Guidelines or dense CEQA manuals.

]]>Video: Aspen Continues to be a Leader in Energyhttp://www.aspeneg.com/articles/video-aspen-leader-in-energy/
Mon, 14 Aug 2017 17:28:27 +0000http://www.aspeneg.com/?post_type=articles&p=3371Aspen is known for providing expert environmental and policy/planning services to clients in the energy sector. This includes energy exploration, generation, and transmission facilities, as well as energy planning, policy analysis, energy economics, and program evaluation. Learn more about how Aspen can help your energy project through the entire project life cycle by watching the video below.